Spark-controlling attachment for automobiles.



I BM. ANDRES, SPARK CONTROLLING ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION FILED 050.29.. 1911.

UNITED STATES PATENT onnron.

EDWARD M. ANDRES, OF DENVER, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO CECIL I. STOKLEY, 01? DENVER, COLORADO.

SPARK-CONTROLLING ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 29, 1917. Serial No. 209,598.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD M. ,ANDRES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Denver, in the county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spark-Controlling Attachments for Automobiles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a spark-control ling attachment for automobiles.

In the operation of motor-vehicles which are started by manual rotation of the engine-shaft, the majority of accidents. due

to back-firing of the engine and the 0011- sequent suddenreversal of the cranking-tool are caused by the failure of the driver to retard the spark to its limit by adjustment ofthe spark lever on' the steering wheel.

On Ford automobiles to which my invention is particularly applicable, it is required that a lever which controls boththe clutch and the emergency brake be moved to a position in which the brake is set and the clutch is released whenever the vehicle and its engine are brought to. a condition of rest.

Unless the'lever'is'in this position the engine cannotqbe started inasmuch as the clamp clutch would naturally prevent the manual rotation of the crank-shaft,and the lever must necessarily-be in its clutch-- of the lever which controls the positions of the clutch between the transmission and the engine-shaft, to the clutch is released. Y

I obtain this result by a connection. be-

tween the clutch-lever and the lead rod which connects the-timer .ofthe "internal.

combustion engine with the spark-lever on the steering-wheel-quadrantsoithat a movement of the lever to its clutch releasing position will be converted into-a simultaneous rotation of the spark-lever to the limit of its spark-retarding position. v

Inasmuch as my invention is particularly adapted for use on Ford automobiles, it has been shown in this connectlon 1n the accomposition in which the.

panying drawings in which similar charac ters of reference deslgnate corresponding parts throughout the several views and in which- 7 Figure 1 represents a fragmentary plan view of the front part of a motor vehicle, s showlng my invention applied to the parts of its operating mechanism hereinbefore referred to, V

Fig. a side elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3, an elevation showing the clutch lever to which the attachment is applied, in the two positions in which the clutchis thrown in and out of action,

"Fig. 4, a section along the line H, Fig. 2, showing the parts of the attachment connected to the spark-lever rod, in its two adjusted positions, and r Fig. 5, a section along theline 5-5, Fig. 2, .drawn'to'an enlarged scale. 7

In the. drawings, the reference character 2 designates a body of a motor-vehicle, 3 the steering column which atits upper end carries the quadrant 4 5 the. spark-lever which is held initsadjusted positions upon thefquadrant, and '6 the lead .rod of the spark-lever which extendsthrough the steer-,

Patented Aug. 13, 1918. r

ing column alongside of the steering rod'7 x and which connects with a timer not shown in the drawings.

Thereference numeral 8 designates the, rotary. clutch-shaft which when thevehicle is 111 motion i partially rotated for-the adjustment of the clutch, by the use of a pedal 9, and 10 isthe hand-lever which is held in place on a notched sector '12 and whichpn a Ford automobile performs the two-fold function of operating the-emergency brake independent of the clutch pedal.

and controllingthe' position of the clutch With thelast mentioned object in view,

an arm 13 which is rigidly mounted upon the fulcrum-shaft 14 of the lever 10 to rotate in conjunction with the latter, carries upon .7 itsupper end a laterallyextending curved cam-face 15.

, A lever 16, fulcrumed at has at the end of one of its arms an adjustable contact screw 18 which engages the face of the cam, and its opposite arm is by means of a link 19 connected with a crank 20 projecting from the clutch-shaft; 8. V

When the lever 10 is in the position shown in full'lines in Figs. 2 and.3,.the clutch is released and the emergency brake is set and when it occupies the position shown in broken lines in Fig. 3, the brake is released and the clutch is in action When the spark-lever occupies a position adjacent the end of its quadrant, as shown in Fig. 1, the spark is retarded to its limit and any movement of the lever in the oppo site direction will cause the spark to be advanced.

Having thus described the construction and operation of the parts of the motorvehicle with which my automatic sparkcontrolling attachment is either directly or indirectly associated, I will now proceed to describe the attachment-in detail, with the understanding that the parts of which it is composed, while shown in the best and simplest form at present known to me, may be varied in their construction and their relative arrangement without departing from the spirit of my invention as defined in the hereunto appended claims.

A bracket 21 fastened to the cam-arm 12 provides a loop 22 for the sliding support of a rod 28. The end of the rod passing through the loop, is threaded for the application of a nut 2a which by engagement with an edge of the bracket, causes the rod to move in conjunction with the cam arm when the lever 10 is moved from its normal position in which the clutch is engaged, to the position shown in full lines in the drawings in which the clutch is released.

The rod 23 is laterally offset adjacent its end opposite to that which connects with the bracket on the cam -arm, for its connection with a crank 25 which is rigidly clamped on the rod 6 of the spark-lever.

When the clutch-lever 10 is moved to the position in which the clutch is released and the emergency brake is set, the engagement of the bracket 21 with the nut 24 on the rod 23 causes the latter to be moved longitudinally and this movement of the rod is by its offset. converted into a downward movement of the crank25 which inconsequence coma pels the rod. on which it is clamped to turn about its axis in the direction in which it moves to adjust the timer with which it is connected, so as to retard the spark of the engine.

It will thusbe seen thatin case the driver of a motor-vehicle to which the attachment is applied, adjusts the clutch-lever 10 preparatory to cranking the engine, the spark-lever 25 is automatically moved to its retarded position.

It will furthermore be observed that the attachment does in no way interfere with the manual adjustment of the spark by means of the hand lever on the steering-wheel of the vehicle and that the are through which the lever-rod 6 is moved by the movement of the clutch lever to its clutch-releasing position, may be varied to any selected degree by varying the position of the nut 2i on the threaded end ofthe rod 23.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

1. In a motor-vehicle, the combination with a clutch-controlling lever and a sparktiming element of an internal-combustion engine, of mechanism for the adjustment of said element to a spark-retarding condition by the movement of said lever to its clutchreleasing position.

2. In a motor-vehicle, the combination.

with a clutch-controlling lever and a sparktiming element of an internal-combustion engine, of an adjustable mechanism adapted to adjust said element to a selected sparkretarding condition by the movement of said lever to its clutch-releasing position.

3. In a motor-vehicle, the combination with a clutch-controlling lever and a rod connecting the spark-lever with the timer of an internal-combustion engine, of mechanism for converting a movement of the controlling-lever to a clutch-releasing position, into a spark-retarding movement of said rod.

t. In a motor-vehicle the combination with a clutch controlling lever and a rod connecting the spark-lever with the timer of an internal-combustion engine, of mechanism for converting a movement of the controlling-lever to a clutch-releasing position, into a rotary movement of said rod.

5. In a motor-vehicle the combination with a clutch-controlling lever and a rod connecting the spark-lever with the timer of an internal-combustion engine, of mochanism for converting a movement of the controlling-lever to a clutch-releasing position,

into a spark-retarding movement of said rod, said mechanism including an adjustment for varying the extent of the move sent of said rod relative to a determinate movementof said lever.

6. In a" motor-vehicle, the combination with a clutch-controlling lever and a rod connecting the spark-lever with the timer of an internal-combustion engine, of mechanism for converting .a movement of the controlling-lever to a clutch-releasing position, into a rotary movement of said rod, said mechanism including an adjustment for varying the arc of rotation of said rod relative to a determinate movement of said lever.

7. In a motor-vehicle, the combination with a clutch-controlling lever and the spark-lever connected with the timer of an internal-combustion engine, of mechanism for converting a movement of the control ling lever to a clutch-releasing position, into a determinate spark-retarding movement of said spark-lever.

8. In a motor-vehicle, the combination with a clutch-controlling lever and a rod 130 connecting the spark-lever with the timer of aninternal-combustion engine, of an attachment for converting a movement of said controlling-lever to a clutch-releasing position into a spark-retarding movement of said rod, including a crank secured on the rod, a bracket connected for movement in conjunction with the controlling-lever, and a connection for converting a movement of the bracket with the controlling lever, into a movement of the crank for rotation of the rod.

9. In a motor-vehicle, the combination with a clutch-controlling lever and a rod connecting the spark-lever with the timer of an internal-combustion engine, of an attachment for converting a movement of said controlling-lever to a clutch-releasing position into a spark-retarding movement of said rod, including a crank secured on the rod, a bracket connected for movement in conjunction with the controlling-lever, a rod loosely supported on said bracket in Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

connection with the crank, and a nut on'the rod, engaging the bracket for their conjunctive movement in one direction.

10. In a motor-vehicle, the combination with a clutch-controlling lever and a rod connecting the spark-lever with the timer of an internal-combustion engine,'of an attachment for converting a movement of said controlling-lever to a clutch-releasing position into a spark-retarding movement of said rod, including a crank secured on the rod, a bracket connected for movement in conjunction with the controlling-lever, a rod loosely supported on said bracket in connection with the crank, and an adjustable nut on the rod, engaging the bracket for their conjunctive movement in one direction.

In testimony whereof I have aifixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD M. ANDRES.

Witnesses:

' G. J. RoLLANDE'r, L. RHOADES.

Washington, D. O. 

